Santa Cruz XTerra in Wilder Ranch

Can you imagine doing a 3+ hour club ride, after doing a 20+ min swim in our blistering cold ocean, and then following up with a 10K run, with sun, wind, and rain. I can’t and yet I witnessed a group of extraordinary folks from across the US and the world go out there and do it for the XTerra in Wilder Ranch. A big shout out to our local MBOSC folks for competing. Kathy won for her age group. Rebecca, Reema and Rodger also competed.

The winning time was in the 2:15 range, the last athlete came in at the 5 hour, 15 minute range. Her name was Libby. She manages a bike shop in Florida. She came in on Thursday, stayed with a neighbor of Kathy Franks’, and is flying out this morning. This was Libby’s 50th Xterra, and approximately 150 tri-athlon. She is no Conrad (the caveman) Stolz, but she definitely has a lot of the same qualities that has made him a 4 time champion. I was equally inspired by both. Congratulations Libby!

A special thanks to those who volunteered.

Sebastien Praly for organizing MBOSC volunteers and being the primary contact with XTerra.

Mark Davidson and Daryl Breuninger for hanging out there in cold, wind, and occasional rain. They got first class seats watching the pro’s fly by at Mach speed, and hanging out there to the end helping XTerra cleaning up and breaking camp.

Matt Ammann and John Caletti. They Swept the two loops, picked up after the racers, and provide fantastic muddy support.

John and Anya for helping XTerra with the cleanup of the signs, and very patiently sweeping the last runner.

Special thanks to XTerra Dave Nicholas and his crew for coming to Santa Cruz.

What’s the big deal? We got a race in Wilder Ranch (last time was in 94). We showed the City of Santa Cruz, once again that we are serious about our sport, fun, and pastime. That there is a source of revenue for the City and our State Parks with Mountain Biking. And that if the City and State Parks need our support as Mountain Bikers, they can get it.